Observe

When we see emotional expressions of other people, we automatically and unconsciously mimic those same expressions, and FMRI research has shown that this mimicry activates a similar network of brain areas in the observer. (A) It has also shown the neural relay mechanism of unconscious mimicry of the postures, mannerisms, and facial expressions of others, which activates to a greater degree in empathic individuals than unempathic individuals. (B)

“When you witness the states of others you replicate these states in yourself as if you were in their shoes, which is why we call these activities ‘vicarious states,’” said Christian Keysers of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam. (F)

While observation can help us feel what another person is feeling, eye contact with another is an even more intimate. From our earliest days, eye contact with our mother and mutual mirroring of movements helps mothers and babies bond and attune to each other – even to the extend of synchronizing brain waves. (C, D, E) So, long before we can speak or even know our own needs, observation and eye contact enable our care takers to intuit what we might be feeling and needing.

Recently neuro imaging has shown that eye contact prepares the social brain to empathize by activating the same areas of each person’s brain simultaneously. Specifically, eye contact triggers the limbic mirror system, a set of brain areas that are active both when we move any part of the body (including the eyes) and when we observe someone else doing the same. The limbic system, in general, underlies our ability to recognize and share emotion. In other words, it is critical to our capacity for empathy. (F)